Taking A Look At The QB Picture

Michael Vick is uncertain about his future. Nick Foles steps into his first NFL offseason. Trent Edwards just wants to improve and stay on the team. What is the picture at quarterback here? ...

It's the most important position on the field and the Eagles have something to work with at quarterback. Let's begin with Nick Foles, who started six games and played in seven in his rookie season and who would appear to be the starter on the imaginary depth chart at the moment.

Foles completed 61 percent of his passes and won once in his six starts. He improved tremendously as he gained experience, but he didn't do enough to make anyone think he is a no-doubt-about-it quarterback.

Maybe, yes. Hopefully, absolutely. Promising, no question about it.

But no doubt that Foles becomes a star quarterback? It's just too early to say.

"I think you want to be careful. I go back to the analogy that I use about a starting pitcher in baseball,"' said general manager Howie Roseman. "They go through the batting order one time, or they go through lineups of the teams in their division one time and maybe they do really well before there is a book on them.

"The things that we saw from him were promising. He's smart. He's obviously big and he's got a good arm. He makes good decisions. He can throw on the move. He's big enough to avoid pass rushers and be able to throw them off him. At the same (time), he knows there are things he has to work on and get better.

"With players, we know that rookies take jumps from their first year to their second year. We're looking forward to seeing that from Nick."

The bottom line, then, is that the Eagles like what they saw from Foles. They've said it publicly and they've said it privately. But if they have a chance to improve the position, they're going to address it just as they will with any position.

As for Vick, his situation is murky. Vick was extremely critical of his teammates following the awful loss to the Giants and he did not commit to saying he wanted to return to the Eagles in 2013. That decision isn't alone, of course, what with a contract that escalates to a reported $16 million for '13.

It sounds like the Eagles are keeping all of their options open with Vick, which makes sense. They reportedly owe him a roster bonus should he be an Eagle five days after the Super Bowl, so there is no rush to say anything definitive now.

What kind of offense are the Eagles going to run for 2013? We won't know that until Jeffrey Lurie, Roseman and Don Smolenski hire a head coach, a process that is underway as we speak. The offensive scheme will have a lot to say about who starts at quarterback next season.

As for Edwards, he played the role of No. 3 quarterback and good soldier perfectly this year. The Eagles could do a lot worse than have Edwards back. He's a seasoned veteran and a fine locker room presence, and he and Foles have an extremely close friendship. Edwards was an outstanding mentor for Foles during the season.

Could the Eagles add a quarterback? Certainly. It would be a shocker if they did it with the fourth overall draft pick in April, but it's likely they will have the pick of the quarterback crop should they decide to go in the direction of West Virginia's Geno Smith or USC's Matt Barkley. Having a franchise quarterback is the goal, and the jury is still out on Foles. Vick is the bigger talent, but he's also coming off two seasons plagued by turnovers and missed opportunities on offense.

We'll know a lot more when the Eagles hire a head coach and he has time to really dig in and study what he has to work with. Until then, the Eagles are keeping all of their options on the table, with Foles the best card in the hand.